I was depressed for months because I did’t go outside enough, or at least that’s what I thought. Now I get invited somewhere and I don’t even want to go. My guess is that I just got used to staying at home so much that anything new will upset me. Sort of like prisoners who get released after 40 years of jail and then want to go back. Maybe not exactly…
I’m going to leave the house anyway. We’ll just see what happens.
Is it possible what you’re experiencing is clinical depression? Or possibly an anxiety disorder? You may want to get to see a doctor about it if it’s a recurring problem.
I know exactly what you mean. Two years ago I had a procedure which was meant to decrease my back pain and give me more mobility. It didn’t work - in fact it made things much, much worse, so I’m stuck in the house most of the time on my own. I have to get a taxi to go to hospital appointments etc. and what with getting in and out of the taxi, going over speedbumps etc. I have to go to bed for the rest of the day as soon as I get home.
My social life has just withered away - I dread having to leave the house to go anywhere - even shopping trips involve so much pain that I keep putting them off until the freezer is empty and I have no choice. I went to the hospital last week to see about a pain management programme that I’ve been on the waiting list for for years - only to be told that I’ll have to see their psychologist first as I’m too depressed to get a place - so I’m back to the bottom of the waiting list.
Part of the problem, I think, is that every day is the same of the last, and I feel that I don’t have anything new to talk about to anyone anymore.
well, I get this to a certain extent. I spent about a year unemployed, and did not got out a whole lot as I could not afford it. I have to admit that it became mentally painful to go out snd see folks who would inevitably ask “how’s the job hunt?”; it was a question I hated talking about.
Now having been back at work for about 2 years, I still get that nagging feeling that I don’t want to go out and socialize like I used to. I like the people, but it seems to take a whole lot of effort on my part to motivate myself to get out. So sometimes I force myself past the resentment and anxiety and just go do it. I am rarely disappointed; it is almost always worth the effort.
YMMV.
At the height (or nadir, depending on how you look at it) of my worst depressive period, I went through the same thing. I went weeks without going out beyond sticking my hand out the door for the mail. At first it was just situational - I didn’t have a car, I was having a really bad time of things, and it was winter. I couldn’t go out. Then, as time went on, the opportunity to go out would come up - something I would wish desperately for - and I’d find myself unable to get myself to do it. I wouldn’t say I was agoraphobic to any degree, but it was a really rough time. Finally I forced myself out the door, and after the first couple of times, it was not so bad, and then life started improving anyway. But it was a vicious cycle: I was depressed because I was trapped, and then I was trapped because I was depressed… and round and round it went until I finally mustered up the energy and determination to break it.
I went. Did not have fun. I predict six more weeks of mental winter.